I tend to disagree with 4xxxx ... a portrait oriented picture of an athlete is just a picture of a person. A landscape oriented image is a picture of the event. It implies that the person came from somewhere and is going somewhere. The empty streets in the first shot and the motorcycle escort in the last one all say something about the event. I like them.

@Brian, I guess this is a personal thing we each like, I respect your view. The last shot here for me is a perfect example of my thinking, the expression on the athletes face and how tense the muscles are flexed portrays the body under some form of stress.

I shot our local marathon for the last two years and my intention was to capture this sort of image although I did shoot wider shots. Having said that, even with athletes running towards you it is still difficult to fill the frame and get the subject in focus. As above, I said I like toothpaste’s style of people photography.